Automatic dirigible lamp for automobiles.



v J. R. HILL. Y AUTOMATIC D IRIGIBLE LAME FOB M ITOFI'IOBILES.VAPPLICATION FILED MAYIs. |915.

1,172,023. Patented FeII.,15,1916.

TOI-IN R. HILL, OF KNOXVILLE, I

AUTOMATIC DIRIGIBLE LAMP FOR TJ'TOIlVIOBILES.A

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Een. 15,1916.

'Appiieatin ined May 15,1915, seriaiNo. 28,327.

i To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, J oHN R. HILL, a citii' zeof the United States.residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee,have invented anew and useful Automat-ic Dirigible Lamp .forAutomobiles; and I. do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertailns to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the. art of illumination for automobiles,andparticularly to an improved automatic dirigible lamp mechanism, andan object ofthe invention is -to i provide a mechanism of this design,whereby as the front wheels ofthel automobile are moved in one directionor .the other in turningV to the right or left, the lamps arecorrespondingly thrown or moved.

Another object of the invention 1s to provide means to avoid unduevibration. of 'the lamp. vertically, incident to the vertical vibrationof the body of the automobile, and incident to the vertical vibration ofthe front wheels, in traveling over rough roads.

.In practical fields the details of construction may necessitatealterations, falling within the scope of what is claimed.V

The invention comprises further features and combination of parts, ashereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1' is a view inA side elevation and partly insection of a portion of an automobile, showing the improved dirigiblelamp mechanism as applied thereto.. Fig. 2 is an 'enlarged detailperspective view of the mechanism detached.

- one of the Referring more especially' to the drawings, 1 designatesthe frame ofthe machine,

'mounted upon suitable springs 2, and 3 clenotes the front axle of theautomobile, to

which the knuckles i (which are provided with the usual stub axles 5 forthe front vwheels 6)' are pivotallv connected in the usual manner. Oneof the knuckles 4 is provided with a lateral arm 7, to which a rod 8 ispivoted, as at 9. This rod 8 may be connected to the conventional formof steering mechanism (not shown), in order to operate one of theknuckles which in turn oscillates front wheels. Both of the lmuckles areprovided 'with arms 10 e2;- tending substantially at right angles fromthe knuckles, as shown. 'Pivoted at 11 to thearms l0 are the rods 12and.13, the adjacent end portions of whichare threaded as at 14, andconnecting the adjacent threaded ends of said rods 12 and 13is a sleevedplate 15 having the ears 16.- The threads 14' of the adjacent ends ofthe rods 12 and 13 are right and left threads, andby turning the sleevedplate in one. direction or thev other, the rods 12 and 13 may beadjusted relative to each other, whereby theproper position of the4knuckles may be attained, s0 that the front wheels of the automobile maybe adjusted relative to each other in parali lelism, that is, in planview. Pivoted at 17 between the 'ears 16 of said sleeved plate are theadjacent ends of the rods 18. The

outer ends of the rods 18 arethreaded at 19, and to the threaded ends 19the compound curved links 20 are connected, which in turn are pivoted at21 to the links 22, and

these links 22 are in turn arms 24. Y

Secured at 25 to the frame 1 of the automobile are plates l26, whichform integral pivoted at 23 to the Vparts Vof the sleeved bearings 27,in which the vertical rods 4 28 are mounted. The upper ends of, the rods28 terminate in the usual heads 29 having forks 30, in which the usualllamps 31 are pivotally mounted as at 32. The .arms 24 are secured by thepins 33 to the lower ends of the rods 28. Interposed between the lowerends of the sleeved bearings 27.and the 'arms 2l are springs 31,and'between the heads 29 and the upper ends of the sleeved bearingssprings are arranged. -It is to be observed that the pivots 23 betweenthe links 22 and the 'arms 24, permit the links 22 to oscillatevertically, but not laterally relative ioo and below the sleevedbearings 2 are ofy equal tension, and .act to yieldably support thelamp, and owing to said springs, the vertical vibration ofthe body ofthe automobile (to the frame of which body the sleeved bearings 27 areconnected) will not affect rthe lamps to any noticeable degree.

By the provision of the automatic -dirigible lamp mechanism shown anddescribed, it is to be observed that as one knuckle is t--oscilla'ted'horizontally by the steering. mechj anism (not shown),both knuckleswill cor-'5;

respondingly move, therefore the front Wheels ivill be turned to theright or the left, and incident to the Wheels moving,` or

oscillating in this regard, the lamps of the automobile ivillcorrespondingliY oscillate,

owing totheconnections between the lamp u and the rods ll'and 13. asshown partic-1 ularly in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The-invention having 'been' set forth, ivhat 15 ings to have slightvertical movements and having' lamps at their upper ends, arms extendinglaterally from the loiver ends of said iod and.rearwardly, one arm beingin parallelism to the opposite arm, links horiv20 Zontally pivotall57connected to the rear ends of the arms to 'oscillate vertically', transverselvT disposed substantially7 alined links having their outer endsprovided with vertel.4

' cal pivotal connections with the rear ends of the iirst links so as'to oscillate horizoii; tally, a connection betweeny the opposite frontwheels including a plate having vertical pivotal connections with theadjacent ends oi' the second alined links, so that the second linksivill oscillate horizontally relative to the plate. whereby as thefrontVA 'Wheels are turned, the lamps will correspondinglv move.

In testimony ivhereot I have signed in v two subscribingwitnesses.

i JOHN R. HILL.

' 'itnesses:

H. A. Iiuiis, M. C. NIXON.

' name to this. specification in the presence of 35

